1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to electrical power-generating systems, and more particularly, to electrostatic generators.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the past the need for replacing storage batteries has presented problems in convenience, planning and cost. These problems were especially important for the batteries used in portable electronic and electrical equipment. For example, the batteries used for electrical watches, portable radios, calculators, and hearing aids heretofore required frequent replacement. This replacement often was annoying to the owner because of the length of time the equipment was out of service and the high replacement cost of the batteries.
In the watch industry there has been a continuing search for a power source that can make electronic watches as maintenance free as self-winding watches. The industry has been looking for a system that will permit electronic watches to operate indefinitely.
Recently, there has developed a particular problem in the electronic watch industry. Digital watches have become fashionable and some are equipped with light emitting diodes. These diodes draw more current than conventional electronic watch circuits, and often the batteries in these watches require replacement every three or four months. At the present time none of the commercially available electronic watch circuits are equipped with a battery charging system, and the watch battery must be replaced each time the battery is discharged.
The present invention incorporates the well known physical principle that electrical energy can be generated from mechanical motion by mechanically alternating the capacitances of a plurality of capacitors. This principle, however, has never been successfully incorporated into battery charging systems and power generators because the output of these previous systems was too unsymmetrical. Although current was generated in these older systems, the systems could not be adapted to efficiently generate usable AC power.
Another problem encountered with prior electrostatic generators has been the electrical breakdown of the medium between the plates of the capacitors. These generators most efficiently generate power when operated at as high a voltage as possible. Heretofore the upper operating voltage limit was determined by the electrical breakdown of the medium between the plates. For example, if air surrounds the plates, then at high voltage, the electric field causes the air to ionize. The conductive ions thus produced deposit on the surface of the dielectric and make its surface electrically neutral. This type of electrical breakdown of the medium greatly reduces the efficiency of the system.
The present invention also makes use of the triboelectric effect as an alternative principle of operation. The triboelectric effect is the generation of electric charge as a result of the friction between two bodies. The bodies move with respect to each other and electric charge builds up. The moving bodies are fabricated from different materials and the amount of charge produced is proportional to the amount and the frequency of the frictional contact.